Johanan ben Zakkai

Johanan ben Zakkai (jōhăn`ən bĕn zăk`āī), leader of the Pharisees of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, afterward founder of the Jewish academy at Jamnia. He emphasized the study of the Torah as the primary religious duty for which humankind was created. After A.D. 70 he taught that deeds of loving kindness might replace sacrifice in achieving atonement.

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Johanan ben Zakkai

(flourished 1st century AD) Palestinian Jewish sage. A leading representative of the Pharisees, he helped preserve and develop Judaism in the years after the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem (AD 70). He is said to have been smuggled out of the besieged city in a coffin and to have visited the Roman camp and persuaded the future emperor Vespasian to allow him to set up an academy at Jamnia near the Judaean coast. He established an authoritative rabbinic body there and was revered as a great teacher and scholar.